


Putting It Together

by airspaniel



Category: Tin Man (2007)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, M/M, Moving On
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-03
Updated: 2008-05-03
Packaged: 2017-10-19 12:34:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/200893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/airspaniel/pseuds/airspaniel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>"And when he was awake, there was Glitch."</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Putting It Together

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted [here](http://yumemiru-kikai.livejournal.com/17872.html)

In his dreams, it was always Adora.

It had always been Adora, since the moment he first saw her and he knew, before he even knew her name, that he would never love another woman as long as he lived.

As soon as he closed his eyes, she was there; sometimes dancing, sometimes humming to herself as she went through her daily routine, smiling up at him as if nothing had ever happened.

They talked, and she laughed, at him more than with him. Then she’d lean in and kiss him, and he’d wake up still feeling the soft press of her lips against his cheek.

And when he was awake, there was Glitch.

\-----

Glitch was a puzzle, to himself as much as anyone else, and that made Cain uneasy. How could you trust a man who didn’t trust himself? Who didn’t even know who he was?

 _When he saves your life. When he follows you without question. When he smiles so widely that his eyes crinkle at the corners, and you smile in return without even thinking about it. When he looks at you and doesn’t smile, eyes lit up from within like_ you’re _the puzzle; and he’s always loved to figure things out…_

“Cain?” Glitch asked softly, and there was that look right now. “You okay?”

Cain tried for a reassuring smile and got halfway there. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.”

Glitch cocked his head curiously, as if he wasn’t at all convinced. “Just, your face went kind of funny there for a minute. You sure you’re okay?”

His concern was touching, and Cain laughed softly at the confused expression on that pale face. “Don’t worry about me,” he replied, tapping one finger teasingly against the base of the gleaming zipper that bisected Glitch’s head. “You’ve got enough to worry about right here.”

Glitch’s eyes crossed, as if he could look at the top of his own forehead. When the effort made him dizzy, he shook his head lightly as if clearing the fog. “Well, somebody has to worry about you, since you never do.”

It was exactly the kind of thing Adora would have said.

“Hello? Cain?”

Glitch’s eyes were wide, dark and sparkling with amusement and something deeper, something that Cain couldn’t quite define. Something that made Cain want to lean in and bring their lips together and kiss him till his eyes fell shut. And he had no idea what the hell that meant.

Suddenly and violently, he missed his wife.

“Cain? Yoo-hoo, you in there?” Glitch was laughing now, waving a hand back and forth in front of Cain’s eyes.

“What were we talking about?” Cain asked, realizing that he was still touching Glitch’s soft, dark hair. He pulled his hand away, casually adjusting his hat.

Glitch just grinned, “Hey, that’s my line!”

Cain cuffed him gently on the shoulder and turned to walk away, brow furrowed in concentration. The pieces were coming together, but he still couldn’t see what the picture was.

“No, really,” Glitch called after him, the tails of his coat flapping behind him as he ran to catch up. “What were we talking about?”

\-----

“You always were a stubborn man, Wyatt.” Adora stood with her hands on her hips, chin turned up defiantly in that adorable way she had when she knew she was right. “Stubborn and silly.”

“What did I do this time?” he asked, reaching up to take her delicate hands, trying to pull her down into his lap. But she resisted, stroking small circles on the backs of his hands with her thumbs.

She smiled sadly at him, keeping her distance. “I’m dead, Wyatt. Have been for a while now. But you’re not.”

He felt tears stinging at the corners of his eyes and it wasn’t right, he shouldn’t be crying in his own dream. “Adora…”

Soft fingers touched his face, wiping his tears away, though he was still holding his wife’s hands tightly in his own.

“It’s all right,” Adora soothed. “You’re all right.” The mysterious hands were still touching him, and he felt himself waking up; the image of Adora fading and becoming dimmer the harder he tried to hold on.

And in that very last second, the lips he felt against his cheek were not his wife’s.

\-----

He woke one morning and realized he didn’t remember her scent. He spent seventeen annuals with Adora, living with her, loving her, holding her in his arms, and he couldn’t remember the way she smelled.

It bothered him, tore at his heart like mobat claws; and he fled, desperate to find some peace. He wished he had a mission, another quest, something _real_ to do, a princess to save… Anything.

He found himself on the roof of the palace, the wind whipping his coat around his legs as he looked out at the countryside. He planted his hands on the stone balustrade, leaning heavily on his arms as he stared out towards the cabin he once called home.

Lilacs, maybe. Or lavender. Maybe that soft golden soap she used to wash her hands. But he couldn’t remember that scent either.

Footsteps echoed on the terrace behind him, quiet and tentative. He didn’t turn to face them.

Glitch was uncharacteristically silent, simply moving to stand next to Cain, elbows resting on the rail. After a long moment, he leaned over, nudging his shoulder against Cain’s arm in a gesture of quiet camaraderie.

“You know, Glitch,” Cain began, proud of how steady his voice sounded. “Don’t take offense, but you never struck me as the strong, silent type.”

“Oh, I have my moments.” Glitch grinned, resting his head against Cain’s shoulder. “But you didn’t look like you really wanted to talk. Not that I have anything to talk about. I guess that’s never really stopped me before, though, talking.”

“Glitch…”

“This is a really nice view, Cain.”

Cain just sighed. “ Yeah. Yeah, it is.”

\-----

Adora would have liked Glitch, his openness, his childlike delight, his optimism.

And Glitch was here, real and tangible in a way that filled up his senses. Made him _feel_ , when he had been so sure he would never feel again. Not like this.

Suddenly, pieces effortlessly fitting together, it seemed the easiest thing in the world to reach out and take one of those elegant, lily-white hands in his own and pull Glitch closer.

And Glitch just laughed, bringing his other hand up to trace Cain’s face. The touch felt so startlingly familiar, gentle fingers smoothing over his cheekbone, running up and behind his ear to cradle his jaw.

“I don’t…” Glitch stammered. “I mean, I think I’ve done this before. Well, things _like_ this before, this general situation, I think… but I can’t… I haven’t.”

Cain wound his arms tighter around his friend’s back. “Glitch, I’d like to kiss you,” he interrupted.

The man flushed instantly, pale skin stained with rose. “I, well, um… all right, I think.”

His lips were warm under Cain’s, warm and soft and so very alive. Glitch hesitated for a moment, only a moment, tensing at the press of Cain’s mouth against his own. Then he sank into the embrace with the same liquid grace he fought with; moving instinctively closer and winding long, pale fingers through the short hair at the nape of Cain’s neck.

When he pulled back moments later, _years_ later, Glitch sighed a happy breath against Cain’s cheek. “I think I don’t need to be thinking right now,” he said, sliding his hand slowly down Cain’s arm to twine their fingers together. “And I think I’d really like to do that again.”

Cain smiled against the soft skin of Glitch’s temple, ghosting kisses over his face until their lips met again, tender and full of promise.

The puzzle wasn’t so difficult to solve, after all.


End file.
